desperate

Adjective

• fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless
  • a desperate illness
    
  • on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel- G.C.Marshall
    
  • a dire emergency
    

• showing extreme urgency or intensity especially because of great need or desire
  • felt a desperate urge to confess
    
  • a desperate need for recognition
    

• showing extreme courage; especially of actions courageously undertaken in desperation as a last resort
  • made a last desperate attempt to reach the climber
    
  • the desperate gallantry of our naval task forces marked the turning point in the Pacific war- G.C.Marshall
    
  • they took heroic measures to save his life
    

• (of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair
  • a desperate criminal
    
  • taken hostage of desperate men
    

• desperately determined
  • do-or-die revolutionaries
    
  • a do-or-die conflict
    

• arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope
  • a despairing view of the world situation
    
  • the last despairing plea of the condemned criminal
    
  • a desperate cry for help
    
  • helpless and desperate--as if at the end of his tether
    
  • her desperate screams
    

Noun

• a person who is frightened and in need of help
  • they prey on the hopes of the desperate
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  dire , heroic , do-or-die(a) , despairing